Category: Accepting Christ is your choice

Identity….what is yours?


In America and in the rest of the world, people tend toward identifying themselves either by their occupation or by their “lifestyle” choice or choices. So, what kind of identity do you have? Is it one that you would be proud to show others or is it one that is looked down upon because it hinges on your beliefs rather than your lifestyle?

Some people hang their life, their identity on their occupation. Some do so to the point of obsession and it is so ingrained within them until when they retire…they die. Because they don’t know what they are or who they can claim to be when they let go of their occupation. Then you also have people who claim to be molded into a lifestyle based upon their preference for a sexual partner. Huh?

Sex doesn’t govern nor determine who or what you are? Neither does your job or occupation! God placed us here for one purpose and that is to bring glory and honor to Him in everything that we do! Sex was given to us as a means of pleasure but also of procreation and deciding to be with someone of the same sex as yourself doesn’t allow for creating another person! Your choice of “partner” doesn’t dictate your life or your lifestyle any more than your hairstyle would.

God loves us but we should not be defined by our sinful choices in life, no matter what those choices might be. Jesus died for each person alive and those to come. He didn’t die for a murderer or a fornicator or even a lawyer or a cowboy! He died for you! He paid the penalty for your life’s choices, your sins, your weaknesses so that you could gain His righteousness and be forgiven of those sins!

Life choices, whether they are good or bad, do not place you into a certain slot in life. What you do about those choices by choosing to follow Jesus or not determines your outcome in life or rather at the end of your life. Since this life is the “training ground” for eternity, we should be searching for our real and actual Savior in this life. Not fitting our daily lives into a mold or behavior that we feel is right for us, but seeking His life and His Kingdom so that we can be right in His sight one day.

By following your own choices and feelings in this life and letting those choices shape your life rather than searching for the Savior and Creator Who can give your life a real purpose and meaning, you are missing out on so much more than you realize. Sports and horses or Facebook and Twitter are distractions just like Pokemon and other games which take your mind away from meaningful pursuits like getting to know Jesus!

I know, Jesus is boring and bland and nobody wants to learn about Him much less follow Him daily. But consider this: what will your life’s interests do for you in eternity? Our lives are pitifully small in length in comparison to eternity, so if your interests and your passion in this life doesn’t involve knowing and getting to know Jesus then what will your eternity look like?BreadofLife

Something to think about before next Sunday’s sermon.

Is your life…broken?


Have you ever wondered exactly why things work for some people and not for others or maybe even for you? I will admit that I have felt that way and wondered about it many times. So…why are some lives lived in relative ease and comfort and some have to struggle to make a payment on their car or have enough to buy food? The answers unfortunately are not easy nor are they provided for us within the pages of Scripture.

Broken&shatteredYes, sometimes life does feel cracked and broken and many times it hurts. It hurts in ways that we don’t understand, if we aren’t the ones hurting. It also makes life seem very selective and unfair in the grand scheme of things too. What can we do about it? In most instances not much. Depending upon your determination and your training or education, you do have the ability to make enough money to live comfortably. Of course, there is also the opposite of that coin as well.

Why bring this up? Because many of us live broken lives but we try to show the world the “life” that we wish we had. This is why so many people have so much credit card debt. They are trying to live rich on a paycheck life. Granted it will work for a little while, but not for very long. Just as listening to a sermon will not magically save your soul, neither will living in debt make you rich!

We are rich in Christ because He is the Creator! He owns all of the gold in the universe as well as all of the other wealth in it, but we aren’t to live on Earth as if we own it too. Be satisfied with your life as if you are rich, but don’t try to live like a rich man on the salary of a cashier! Because it just isn’t possible!

We have broken lives because many of us are just that…broke! Stretch your hand out and up to your Savior so that He can lift you into His home and His life because that is the only way of living life as a child of God.

What more can be done?


CallofDutyIn today’s society, whether it is in America or Europe or the Middle East, many prophecies are coming to pass or have come to pass in the last century. Some of them have been noticed for what they are but many of them have not. The wars which began in Europe and ended in the Middle East in the first couple of decades of last century began the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the Jewish people.

This year, we are in what was foretold to be the last Jubilee year for the Jewish nation before the Messiah comes. Which coming are they speaking of? Will this be the True Messiah or will it be the antiChrist claiming to be their Messiah? Will this Messiah show up this year or will it be in the next seven years? Truly, nobody on Earth knows for sure.

According to the Bible, there are few prophecies left to come true before the Second Coming of Jesus. Some of those things which are to happen are the apostasy or falling away from the faith and a global war. These may begin to happen prior to the calling away of the church and those who have died believing in Jesus or it may not. We just don’t know the timing of this exactly.

The fall feasts or Holy Days of the Jewish people give some clues but they aren’t concrete. So…what more is there to do? Keep watching and studying the Scriptures. Looking for signs which point to prophecy being fulfilled or even some of the judgements being carried out which happen in the first few chapters of Revelation. We, as believers, should keep a close eye on the news with our knowledge of God’s Word as a filter so that we may be able to see things that will happen before others do.

God loves humanity and He will give them, meaning those who don’t believe, every chance to come to know Jesus. But at some point He will tell Jesus to go and get My people. Some say it will be too late for people to change at that point but I don’t believe that God will turn away from those who are left behind. He will still be working to draw more to Himself, even if they are under the eye of the antiChrist at the time.

I don’t mean that He will save everyone but He will save those who will give their hearts to Him and serve Him. God knows exactly who they are and He will get their attention even during those trying times. People who claim to be Christians will be forced to prove it with their lives or take the mark of the Beast. If they do, they have turned away from Jesus and they are not Christians. If they refuse to take the mark, then at that time they will be killed. All of this is in the book of Revelation, which I am not going to give chapter and verse here. The entire story plays out during the first sixteen chapters and finalizes from chapter seventeen to 19 when the battle is over, at least for one thousand years. Chapters 20 through 22 detail some of what will happen at the end of that thousand-year reign of Jesus. Just read it and pray about your part in the time leading up to all of this.

Make sure about which side you are on before things get really bad.

Nothing good…


It seems that many in the church today have not realized that nothing good can be done…apart from God and His Strength! Can we do any amount of good in this life without Jesus? I don’t think so. Jesus said that we could do nothing without Him, particularly anything good in this life. Why? Because, as a branch can produce nothing apart from the tree or the vine that it grows from, we can produce nothing for God’s Kingdom without being attached to Jesus in our walk with Him!

Can churches and the people in those churches do much good in their community? Yes, they can and they can do much more if they are doing it for God’s Kingdom! Not for fame or for promotion of the church or the people in the church, but simply for God and for His purposes. Churches have done much to damage the image of Christians in the past and we need to be working toward changing this.

Many of the past “atrocities” that ISIS claims were done by Christians actually were done by the church of that time. I am not trying to point fingers or place blame, but the “dark ages” were times of persecution by the church, but not just toward so-called “unbelievers”. At least one Christian was persecuted and burned at the stake by the church for just having an English translation of the model prayer given by Jesus to His disciples!

During this time period, services were done in Latin and the people were not allowed to have translations in English. Which is why Tyndale determined to translate at least the New Testament into English and was working on the Old Testament when he was arrested, tried for heresy and burned at the stake after he was strangled. So, as you can see, the church has done some terrible things in its time as well. All in the name of God and the faith.

Please, make sure that your faith is grounded in Jesus the Christ and His resurrection. Don’t place your trust in man’s religions and rituals because they are like the flowers in the field, they will wither and die in His Light of truth! God’s Word is the only Truth in this world and the salvation that belief in Jesus brings is the only path to eternity. Any other path is just a dusty trail which leads to death.

Persecution


PersecutionTodayToday just as in times past, persecution is like gas on a fire or fertilizer for plants in regard to the number of believers. The church grows! No matter where the persecution may be or what form it takes, people notice how believers have faith and joy in Jesus! Then they turn to their faith and realize that they don’t have that. No other faith offers that joyous hope in Jesus because there is no hope of eternity in anyone else!

Hundreds of years ago, persecution caused the church to grow. Even at the end of the first century after Jesus’ burial and resurrection which was why John was exiled to Patmos, there was much persecution but believers didn’t give up their beliefs. No matter what they were threatened with, they still held onto their faith in Jesus. Many were killed, martyred in horrible ways which I won’t describe here, but they still held to their faith!

Nobody would hold onto a lie or a fantasy and die because of something that they knew wasn’t real! All but one disciple of Jesus died a martyr’s death in one way or another. Some were beheaded, some were crucified or run through with a spear or sword, but all but John died this way. They tried to boil John in oil but by a miracle, it didn’t work and he died of old age.

If you truly want to know how many of the believers died, read the Book of Martyrs. It will strengthen your faith and make our sufferings look mild in comparison. Does persecution cause people to turn to Jesus? Yes, it does! Many do, even today, although they don’t want it to be known because they would be killed if it became public knowledge. Are Muslims coming to Jesus? Yes! Are others coming to know Jesus? Yes!

Why? Because they see the joy that people have in Him, even when they are poor or persecuted for their faith. It is a joy which defies human comprehension because to someone without faith in Jesus, this joy makes no sense at all! Just as the Bible says, to the world our faith is foolishness.

To someone who is drowning but may not know it, a rope tossed to them will be flung aside. A float will be ignored until they realize that they truly need it. It is the same with someone who is living without Jesus. Until they realize that they NEED Him, they will go about their life with no worries. Until that point that God touches their heart and they know that they need Jesus, they will refuse to pay attention to any part of the Bible!

The image above shows that it is happening today and even though those in the picture may not look joyous in their time of persecution, their hope is still in Jesus. It is the reason that they are being killed, because of their belief in Him. Could we be brave enough to stand and declare our faith in the face of being burned or shot? I don’t know. God would give each of us a measure of faith and strength in that time of testing but to tell you that I could face it without fear and trembling? I just can’t say. Seek Him today so that your faith will be made complete in Him.

Our crazy, mixed up world


It seems that we live in a world which is totally out of touch, not only with religion and the Scriptures, but with reality itself! Even everyday news has become more entertainment than actual news! Yes, there are shootings and stabbings and people die every day, some of them too young to believe that they were even in danger. So, what is happening to our culture and the people in it?

Not only in America but all over the world it seems that more emphasis is placed on what you are tweeting on social media sites than what is being done to help the homeless or to straighten out the enormous debt that, not only America has but also exists in other countries! It seems very strange that everyone, people on the street and in the media, seems to be exaggerating even the smallest bit of drivel which is sent out on social media such as Twitter or Facebook!

The strangest part of all of this is that it was foretold in God’s Word nearly two thousand years ago. In the book of 1 John, the apostle John wrote that:

1 John 2:15-17
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

It is true that the words “social media” or any reference to such is not in the Bible, but it is said that “knowledge would increase in the last days“; and with the Internet available to at least one-third of the world’s population, access to knowledge certainly has increased. All sorts of knowledge, good and bad, is available to all people in free countries at all times of the day.

So, just how crazy is our world? Look around on the ‘Net and see or any social media site, even on the news you can see all sorts of behavior that is or would be in that category. Why is all of this happening now? Because, we are very close to the end of the church age or the age of Grace, whichever you choose to call it. How close, I can’t say. Make sure that your destination is with Jesus because eternity is a very long, long time to be without love or hope or light or compassion or any of the goodness which comes from God! None of those will be available in outer darkness where Satan and his followers will be.

There are only two sides to every conflict, one is good and the other is not. Black and white, yin and yang (except that the sides don’t have parts of the other in them), death or Life, so….choose.lifeordeath

I am nothing but…


Forgiven

By my Creator and Savior, Jesus the Messiah! Amen!

Understanding your role (part 2)


The first part of this series, if you will, can be found at http://inhisservicetilhecomes.com. It is part of a sermon which I did this past weekend about our service to God and our role in that service. I pray that you will all take it to heart and read both.

C. Faith adopts God’s eternal perspective in both poverty and riches (1:9-11).

In both poverty and riches we have nothing to boast about in God’s sight. Even those who have little, such as a homeless man or woman, if they place their faith and hope in God then they are as rich as anyone else! The rich man doesn’t have anything to boast about beyond this life, because God owns all of the riches and the universe itself! In God’s eyes and by His reckoning, even a rich man is poor if he has placed his faith in his riches. But, by placing your faith in God a rich man will have eternity to praise God for His love and his salvation which came to us all by Jesus Christ!

D. Faith perseveres under testing, not blaming God for temptations (1:12-18).

The 12th verse begins with the word “Blessed”, this reflects the understanding that a person who walks in the paths set by the Lord, sees his plight or his troubles in terms of the hope that he has in Christ, awaiting him in eternity. So by that measure, the present troubles seem fleeting and of no effect. When you compare your life, even to one thousand years, every problem fades into the background. How much more it would do so when compared to an eternity with Jesus? That is why the Word says that our life is like a puff of wind or smoke or like the grass which is green and beautiful one day and dried up and burned the next. Faith grows as it is tested just as a tree’s roots grow deeper when it is exposed to the wind. Sometimes the testing is like a gentle breeze and we get through it will little effort or prayer even. Some days, our testing may be like a rushing mighty wind blowing against a tree or a house and unless there is a good foundation or much roots in the One Who can hold you and take you through this day or trial, then you may fall. But, God will not allow a person who trusts in Him to fail or fall.

E. Faith obeys God’s word, even when provoked (1:19-27).

In verse 19 and 20 there is a bit of wisdom that all of us need to carry with us every day: “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God” I believe that this is the very reason that God made us with two ears and two eyes and only one mouth because if you hear the things which are being said and notice those things which are happening around you, then when you do speak you should  speak from wisdom, God’s Wisdom, and not your own.

We are to lay aside all sinful behavior, which would shine a dim light on your witness if you were still doing it and people know that you claim to be a Christian. As Jesus said, “take up your cross and follow me”; your cross is your burden or your temptation which comes back to taunt you which you have to conquer through faith and perseverance. As James writes, “if you are hearers only” then what are you doing with your faith? He writes that we should be doers of the Word as well as hearers because by living your faith out in public, others will see that you are actually living by what you claim!

Hearing the Word of God on Sunday only would be like “a man who looked at himself in the mirror and then immediately forgot what he looked like”. But, when you hear the Word and then continue to study it daily and walk in that faith which it brings to fruition, then you will be blessed indeed.

If you are religious or only act that way for gain of some kind, and yet you don’t watch what you say or how you say it, then you are deceiving yourself and your own heart and your so-called “religion” is useless and in vain. Everyone will be able to see that you are not really being true to what you claim to be.

You will be seen as someone who claims to be rich even when they have nothing to prove it to be so! A hypocrite.  Pure religion with faith in Jesus Christ is undefiled before God and the proof of it is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep yourself unspotted in the world.

In other words, do what Jesus did in that He took care of those having faith in Him with prayer and supplications often and He healed their afflictions in so much that it would give glory to God the Father. Of course, He kept himself from the sins of this world which is nigh impossible for us to do except that we have to  live in the Word and be praying to God for the strength to do so while we are present in this body.

Why does James call us to be strong in our faith and our walk with Jesus? Because of the witness that we have by claiming Jesus as our Savior. If you aren’t living out your faith on a daily walk with Him, then how will people be able to tell if you are a true Christian?

 

See the Lord do this thing….


Featured Image -- 57701 Samuel 12: 14-16:

14 If ye will fear the Lord, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the Lord your God;
15 But if ye will not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then shall the hand of the Lord be against you, as it was against your fathers.
16 Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes.
Samuel said these words in front of the people of Israel when they crowned Saul their king, because they wanted a king like everyone else had. They didn’t want God as their King! God is very patient with us, even when we reject His rule in our life. He doesn’t smite a person dead when they foolishly shake their fist at Him and ask for Him to strike them dead. That doesn’t stop them from being foolish enough to do it though.
God is not a man. He is not made in our image as many seem to try to mold Him that way, we are made in His Image! Thankfully, God has enough patience with humanity to allow us to keep living and hopefully we will learn about Him enough to feel the need for Him to rule in our hearts the way that He should!
As in Proverbs it says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom“. Fear in this context is respect or reverence not fear as in scared of or afraid! Being a child of God brings joy into your life, knowing that He is always at your side. He, our Creator, is on your side and always near you, no matter what the circumstances may be! We are beloved by God Himself, whether you have given your heart to Him or not! He doesn’t wish that anyone should go into Hell forever, but by your choice of not giving your heart to Jesus and asking Him to come into your life it is you who chooses that path for eternity!
God created mankind to be in fellowship with Him all of the days of our lives. But..it was our choice to remain in that relationship with Him and everyone knows how that turned out! Through Jesus our Savior, each of us can change that situation and get back into fellowship with God. All that is required is that you believe in Jesus’ sacrifice for your sins and ask Him to save you from your old, sinful life.
That is it! That is all that is required and its all that you or I can do to become a child of God! No amount of money or works in this life can get you righteous enough to be allowed into Heaven. Only the blood of Jesus can cover your sins and mine so that God sees His righteousness instead of our rags! You only have this life, however long it may be, to get this done so please don’t wait. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow, so please seek out your Savior today and ask Him to come into your heart to change you into the person that God knows you can be.

The wonder of Joy


joyIn many ways when we come to know Jesus, we are joyful in that knowledge that we have our salvation granted through Jesus our Savior. We are very much like a small child, giddy and so happy that our Savior loves us enough to grant us our salvation through His blood, His death and resurrection! So…what happens after you find that you need to learn more about Him and learn to listen to Him every day?

It seems that many people don’t experience that joyous wonder like a child. They understand that they need Him and they ask Him into their hearts. But sometimes our church or others in the church who should shepherd them toward their Savior drop the ball. Many people end up just standing in ankle-deep salvation for many years and some never get past that point.

The joy of knowing Jesus and knowing that you have been saved through His sacrifice in your place should carry you through for many months until you begin to mature as a Christian. But how do you do that? The same way you get through any learning situation, by study, prayer and by seeking His advice for your life every day. It is a daily walk with Him after all, and just as any relationship…it needs to be cultivated and nurtured.

He is your Creator and your Savior and that relationship should be one that continues all through your life, day in and day out. Sounds boring, but think about Who you are having a relationship with! He is the Creator, the Son of God, your Savior and the second Person of the Trinity! Could there be anyone in the universe who could possibly be more interesting?

If you are wondering how you could get to know Him, READ the Bible! God inspired the writers and disciples to tell you about Himself and His personality. Yes, sometimes He is demanding but it’s because He expects us to obey Him, just as we expect our children to obey when they learn the rules about being in your house! Life, as a child of God, is a learning process and it is one that takes a lifetime! You can’t get a version of it which is a digest version, it is a day by day, week by week learning process which is very much like our own lives.

The joy of knowing Jesus is like the joy of bringing home your newborn son or daughter. It or rather they are new in your life, you are new at learning how to handle your relationship with them or Him. As time goes on and you learn more about Him, the joy should grow into a deeper love and a deeper relationship…but there should always be a bit of joy in it from day-to-day!